Part retainer for holding a part

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a part retainer for housing and retaining various electronic and mechanical parts wherein a retaining unit has an engaging piece that stably stops at both a position at which it protrudes toward the opening of a part housing space and a position at which it withdraws, and which can move between these two positions under a specified or more amount of force, and wherein when protruding toward the opening, the engaging piece prevents the part housed in the housing space from falling out.

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 08/836,361 filed May 12,1997.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a part retainer for housing andretaining various electronic and mechanical parts and a method formanufacturing this retainer, as well as a part supply apparatus forsupplying parts housed in the part retainer to an automatic assemblymachine.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventional part retainers for retaining and loading a collection of alarge number of parts in a part supply apparatus include retaining tapeswith a large number of housing recesses formed at a specified interval.After housing parts in the housing recesses, such part retainers coverthe top surface thereof with cover tapes to prevent the parts fromfalling out.

Such part retainers, however, require parts to be covered with covertapes during housing and the tapes to be released and wound during partsupply, thereby requiring a part supply apparatus of a complicatedconfiguration. In addition, the release tapes must be used, therebyincreasing costs.

As a device that solves this problem, the applicant proposed in JPA6-156562, a part retainer 31 comprising a connected retaining units 32each having a housing recess 33 in which a part is housed and anengaging piece 34 disposed in the opening for preventing the part fromfalling out, as shown in FIG. 13. The engaging piece 34 has a protrusion36 protruding therefrom, is disposed at the end of a supporting piece 35integrally extending from the sidewall of the retaining unit 32, andprotrudes into the opening of the housing recess 33. Since theprotrusion 36 on the top surface of the engaging piece 34 engages aguide groove (not shown) formed in a guide rail through which the partretainer 31 travels, the engaging piece 34 is guided by the guide grooveto move toward a withdrawing position as the part retainer 31 moves,thereby enabling the part to be housed in and removed from the housingrecess 33. Reference numeral 37 designates a feed hole formed in eitherside of the retaining unit 32, and 38 is a connecting piece forconnecting retaining units 32 together.

In the part retainer disclosed in the above publication, however, if theengaging piece 34 remains at the withdrawing position for a long time, acreep phenomenon may cause the supporting piece 35 to remain deformedand to be prevented from elastic return. Thus, the engaging piece 34cannot reliably retain parts.

In addition, since the engaging piece 34 protrudes into the housingrecess 33, a notch opposite to the engaging piece 34 must be formedduring molding of the retaining unit 32, and the part cannot be engagedor retained in its full circumference. Consequently, some parts cannotbe stably retained.

Furthermore, conventional part supply apparatuses for supplying parts toan electronic part mounting machine have a structure in which thetravelling surface for the part retainer is completely covered near apart removal position, as shown in FIG. 25. Thus, if in particular, dueto the switching of product types, the part retainer is removed from thepart supply apparatus before all the housed parts have been used up, thetape must be cut before or after the part removal section and rewound toa feed or winding reel. If parts are used again, the tape must beconnected again, and a large amount of time is required to replace thetape.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In view of the conventional problems, an objective of this invention isto provide a part retainer and its manufacturing method which can stablyand reliably retain parts in their full circumference as well as a partsupply apparatus for which the part retainer is used.

According to this invention, a part retainer of the present inventioncomprises connected retaining units for housing and retaining parts, andthe retaining unit has an engaging piece that stably stops at both aposition at which it protrudes toward the opening of the part housingspace and a position at which it withdraws, and which can move betweenthese two points under a specified or more amount of force. Whenprotruding toward the opening, the engaging piece prevents the parthoused in the housing space from falling out.

The above configuration enables the engaging piece protruding into theopening to hold the part housed in the part housing space. In addition,by moving the engaging piece to the withdrawing position, the part canbe removed. Even if the engaging piece remains at the withdrawingposition for a long time, it can be reliably moved to the protrudingposition to reliably retain the part. After supplying the housed part tothe automatic assembly machine, the retainer can be reused by housingparts therein again.

To enable the engaging piece to stably stop at the position at which itprotrudes toward the opening and the position at which it withdraws andto move between these two positions, each of the opposed sidewalls ofthe retaining unit and each end of the engaging piece are connectedtogether by a pair of link pieces via a self hinge. This allows eitherside of the engaging piece to be supported by the quadric linkmechanism, so the engaging-piece is stable at the two positions and canstably move between the two positions with its attitude maintained.

Even if each of the sidewalls of the retaining unit and each of thesides of the engaging piece are connected via a single link piece, theengaging piece is stable at the two positions and can stably movebetween these positions. Either end of the pair of link pieceshinge-connected together may be connected to either of the opposed oradjacent sidewalls of the retaining unit, with the engaging piecedisposed in one of the link pieces. Either end of a curved supportingpiece may also be connected to either of the opposed or adjacent endwalls of the retaining unit via a self hinge, with the engaging piecedisposed at the approximate center of the curved supporting piece. Themore simple configurations described above can produce effects almostsimilar to those of the first embodiment.

In addition, by providing a protrusion located above or below theengaging piece for moving the engaging piece between the two positionsthrough a guide groove or protrusion disposed along the travellingpassage of the part retainer and leading to a part housing or removalposition, the engaging piece can be moved between the two positions asthe part retainer moves. In particular, when the protrusion is disposedbelow the engaging piece, the guide groove can be located on the sameside as a feed mechanism of the part retainer to reduce the dimensionalerror between the guide groove and the feed mechanism, thereby improvingthe reliability of moving the engaging piece.

The engaging piece may be disposed at one or both ends of the retainingunit, or in one or more corners thereof. Disposing the engaging piece incorners enables dead space to be efficiently used and reduces themovement of the engaging piece, if corners of the part have protrusionssuch as leads.

In addition, by disposing connecting holes in one side of the retainingunit in the connection direction while disposing on the other sidethereof in the connection direction engaging protrusions that fit andengage the engaging holes, and providing on the engaging protrusion anengagingly locking means that engages the circumference of theconnecting hole to prevent the protrusion from being removed, simplyfitting the engaging protrusions in the connecting holes enablesretaining units to be connected so as not to be separated easily orinadvertently.

The method for manufacturing part retainers according to this inventioncomprises using a molding machine to mold a retaining unit, moving themolded retaining unit to a position at which a previously moldedretaining unit has been placed, fitting in the connecting holes in oneside of one retaining unit in the connection direction the engagingprotrusions on the other side of the other retaining unit to connect theretaining units, and sequentially transferring the connected retainingunits a distance corresponding to a single retaining unit. According tothis method, retaining units are molded and sequentially connected toimprove the productivity of part retainers.

Since the retaining unit is molded in such a way that the engaging piecewithdraws from the opening of the part housing space, a retaining framethat retains the full circumference of the part can be formed in thepart housing space in order to provide a part retainer capable of stablyholding parts. While the retainer units are being sequentiallytransferred, after having been-connected each other, each engaging pieceis moved to the protruding position at which it protrudes toward theopening of the part housing space, and the resin hinge at the connectionis moved immediately after the molding, whereby the strength of theengaging piece is increased, and the retainer can be reliably used overa long period of time.

A part supply apparatus according to this invention comprises a partsupply apparatus body that can be installed in and removed from anautomatic assembly machine, a feed reel section that is disposed at oneend of the part supply apparatus body and around which a tape-like partretainer is wound, a part removal position that is formed at the otherend of the part supply apparatus body and at which parts are removedfrom the part retainer, a winding reel section that is disposed at oneend of the part supply apparatus body and around which the part retaineris rewound after parts have been removed at the part removal section, atape feed means for moving the part retainer drawn out from the feedreel section to a specified part removal position and allowing it to bewound by the winding reel section, and a tape guide for pressing thepart retainer against the other end of the part supply apparatus body,wherein eliminating the pressure of the tape guide enables the partretainer to be removed from the side of the apparatus with theconnections in the part retainer maintained.

The above constitution enables the part retainer to be installed in andremoved from the side of the part supply apparatus while remainingconnected from the feed reel to the winding reel. The part supplyapparatus according to this invention enables the tape-like partretainer in use to be replaced without cutting it, thereby significantlyreducing the time required for replacement.

Furthermore, by including a one-way clutch in which the winding reelsection can rotate only in the winding direction, the winding reel isprevented from rotating in the opposite direction, thereby enabling thetape-like part retainer be stably transferred.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a part retaineraccording to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a connecting operation forretaining units according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an engaging protrusion of theretaining unit according to-the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view showing a connecting operationfor retaining units according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 5(a)-(c) are cross sectional view showing a process for fittingthe engaging protrusion in the connecting hole during connection of theretaining units according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the connecting section of theretaining unit with the engaging protrusion fitted in the connectionhole according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an apparatus for manufacturing partretainers according to this invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a process for housing parts in the partretainer according to this invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of a process for housing and removingparts from the part retainer according to the first embodiment. The lefthalf is a cross sectional view showing the housing or removal of a part,while the right half is a cross sectional view showing the retention ofa part.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a part retainer according to asecond embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a part retainer according to athird embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a part retainer according to afourth embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a conventional part retainer.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a part supply apparatus according to thisinvention.

FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view of the part supply apparatus takenacross line W—W in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the integral part of the part supply apparatusnear a part removal position. A

FIG. 17 is a front view showing the part supply apparatus including thepart retainer.

FIG. 18 is a plan view showing the environment of the part outputposition of the part supply apparatus when the part retainer is in use.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an engaging piece closing member in thepart supply apparatus.

FIG. 20 is a rear view of the part supply apparatus.

FIG. 21 is a left end view of the part supply apparatus.

FIG. 22 is a right end view of the part supply apparatus.

FIG. 23 is a plan view of the part supply apparatus.

FIG. 24 is a bottom view of the part supply apparatus.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a conventional part supply apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One embodiment of a part retainer according to this invention isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a part retainer comprising a large number ofretaining units 2 (only two are illustrated). Each retaining unit housesand retains a part to constitute a tape-like collection of parts.

The retaining unit 2 is manufactured by injection molding polypropyleneor polyethylene, has a generally rectangular planar shape that is longin the direction perpendicular to the connection direction, and has feedholes 3 formed at a specified pitch on either side in the connectiondirection. The retaining unit 2 has a shallow recess 4, except in itscircumferential portion, and the middle of the recess 4 is used as aspace 5 for housing a part. The housing space 5 is surrounded by asquare upright retaining frame 6 that retains the four corners of apart.

An engaging piece 7 that can move between a position at which itprotrudes into the opening above the housing space 5, and a position atwhich it withdraws from the opening, is disposed on either side of thehousing space 5. When in the protruding position, the engaging piece 7holds the top surface of a part housed in the housing space 5 to preventit from falling out, whereas in the withdrawing position, it enables apart to be housed in or removed from the housing space 5. In FIG. 1, inthe retaining unit 2 located diagonally upward, the engaging piece 7 isin the withdrawing position, whereas in the retaining unit 2 locateddiagonally downward, the engaging piece 7 is in the protruding position.This is also applicable to FIGS. 10 to 12. The engaging piece 7 includesa generally horizontally extending section 7 a connected to a generallyvertically extending section 7 b.

The engaging piece 7 is connected via a pair of link pieces 8 to eithersidewall 2 a disposed in the connection direction of the retaining units2. Each link piece 8 has a length somewhat longer than half the lengthobtained by subtracting the width of the engaging piece 7 from thedistance between the sidewalls 2 a, 2 a. The connection between the linkpiece 8 and the sidewall 2 a and between the link piece 8 and theengaging piece 7 are made using thin self hinges 9. This enables theengaging piece 7 to be stable at the two positions, that is, theprotruding and withdrawing positions, and to move between the twopositions under a specified force, as described above. The engagingpiece 7 has on its bottom surface protrusions 10 with which the engagingpiece 7 can be moved between the two positions.

A pair of connecting pieces 11 each having an engaging protrusion 12protruding downward therefrom is disposed at an appropriate interval atone edge of the retaining unit 2 in the connection direction. A pair ofprotrusions 13 each having a connecting hole 14 engaging the engagingprotrusion 12 are disposed at the other edge in the connection directionat the positions corresponding to the connecting holes 11. The engagingprotrusion 12 has a sharp protrusion 12 a formed at its bottom end andan engagingly locking means 15 protruding from its one side, as shown inFIG. 3 in detail. The engagingly locking means 15 has inside a recess 16of a width larger than that of the claw, and both ends of the engaginglylocking means 15 and the sidewall of the recess 16 are connected by athin connecting wall 16 a. Thus, when fitted in the connecting hole 14under an appropriate amount of external force, the engagingly lockingmeans 15 is ensured to return to its original state. An engaged surface17 is formed around the connecting hole 14 and engages the engaginglylocking means 15 when the engaging protrusion 12 is completely fitted inthe connecting hole 14.

To connect retaining units 2 together, one retaining unit 2 is supportedupward while the other is supported downward by a suction means 18 withits connecting hole 14 located above the engagingly locking protrusion12 of the first retaining unit 2, as shown in FIG. 4, and the secondretaining unit 2 is lowered as shown by the arrow in the figure. Then,as shown in FIGS. 5(a) to (c), the engaging protrusion 12 is contractedand fitted in the connecting hole 14, and the engagingly locking means15 withdraws toward the recess 16, returns, and engages the engagedsurface 17 formed on one side of the connecting hole 14. The unit isthen in the state shown in FIG. 6, thereby preventing the engagingprotrusion 12 from being removed from the connecting hole 14 andensuring that the retaining units 2 are connected together.

The engaging protrusion 12 can be reliably fitted in the connecting hole14 because the needle-like end of a supporting member 19 is insertedinto the recess 16 of the engaging protrusion 12 to support theprotrusion 12 from downward and because a pressing member 20 presses theprotrusion 13 with the connecting hole 14 from upward, as shown in FIG.4. Thus, if the engaging protrusion 12 includes the engagingly lockingmeans 15, simply fitting the engaging protrusion 12 in the connectinghole 14 enables the retaining units 2 to be connected together so as notbe separated easily or inadvertently.

Next, a part retainer manufacturing apparatus and process is describedwith reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, 21 is a molding machine forinjection-molding a retaining unit 2, and 22 is a transfer and loadmeans for obtaining the molded retaining unit 2 from the molding machine21 and transferring it to a connecting section 23 and includes thesuction means 18. The connecting section 23 is configured so as toreceive and support retaining units 2, and has a feed means 24 forsequentially feeding a distance equal to the width of the retaining unit2, the part retainer 1 comprising retaining units 2 connected usingtheir feed holes 3; the supporting member 19 (see FIG. 4); and thepressing member 20.

The molding machine 21 molds the retaining unit 2, which is thentransferred to the connecting section 23 in which a previously moldedretaining unit has been placed. The connecting holes 14 in the firstretaining unit 2 is then fitted to the engaging protrusions 12 at thecorresponding end of the second retaining unit to connect them together,as described above. The productivity of the part retainer 1 is improvedby repeating the operation of the feed means 24 for feeding the partretainer 1 a distance equal to a single retaining unit.

In this manufacturing process, since during molding of the retainingunit 2, the engaging piece 7 withdraws from the opening in the housingspace 5, it does not interfere with the space 5. Consequently, aretaining frame 6 for holding the full circumference of a part can beformed in the housing space 5 to obtain a part retainer 1 that can holdparts stably, as shown in FIG. 1.

In addition, a guide groove (not shown) is disposed in the bottom of theconnection section 23, so that the protrusions 10 for moving theengaging piece 7 back and forth are engaged thereto and guidedtherealong. When the engaging piece 7 is moved to the protrudingposition toward the opening of the housing space 5 while the connectedretaining units 2 are being sequentially transferred, self hinges 9which have just been molded can be moved in order to improve thestrength of the engaging piece, thereby realizing long and reliable useof the part retainer.

Next, housing, retention, and removal of-parts using the part retainerof the above configuration are described with reference to FIGS. 8 and9. The part housing and retention section or removal section has a guiderail 25 for guiding the part retainer 1 as shown in FIG. 9, and the partretainer 1 moves along the guide rail 25. The guide groove 26 engagesthe protrusions 10 for moving the engaging piece 7 back and forth isformed in the top surface of the guide rail 25. The guide means for theprotrusions 10 need not be configured as the guide groove 26 but may beshaped like a protrusion.

If a part 27 is housed and retained in each retaining unit 2 of the partretainer 1, the engaging piece 7 moves to the withdrawing position whileeach retaining unit 2 is moving toward the housing position, as shown inFIG. 8(a), and at the housing position, the part 27 is housed in thehousing space 5 as shown in FIG. 8(b). While the retaining unit issubsequently moving further from the housing position, the engagingpiece 7 moves to the protruding position to prevent the part 27 fromfalling out and to retain it in the part retainer 2, as shown in FIG.8(c). Repetition of these operations allows the efficient production ofa collection of parts with the part 27 held in each retaining unit 2 ofthe part retainer 1.

If this collection of parts is loaded on the part supply apparatus andthe part 27 is removed, the engaging piece 7 moves from the state inFIG. 8(c) in which the part 27 is engagingly held to the withdrawingposition shown in FIG. 8(b) while the retaining unit 2 is moving towardthe part removal position, and at the removal position, the part 27 isremoved as shown in FIG. 8(a).

FIG. 8 illustrates as the part 27 an electronic part (called “QFP”)having a large number of leads-around its outer circumference. With thebottom surface of the base of the leads of the QFP 27 supported on thesupporting frame 6, the top surface of the base of the leads and thesides of the main body 27 a are held by the engaging piece 7. Since theQFP 27 is fixed and held with all the leads completely supported by thesupporting frame 6, the leads are prevented from being damaged or bent.

As described above, according to the part retainer 1 of this embodiment,the engaging piece 7 is stable at the protruding and withdrawingpositions and can move between these two positions, so the part 27housed in the housing space 5 is retained by the engaging piece 7protruding into the opening. In addition, the part 27 can be removed bymoving the engaging piece 7 to the withdrawing position, and theengaging piece 7 can be reliably moved to the protruding position evenafter it has remained at the withdrawing position for a long time,thereby enabling the part to be reliably retained. In addition, sincethe engagement piece 7 and the retaining unit 2 are connected togetherby the pair of link pairs 8 via the self hinge, each engagement piece 7is supported by the quadric link mechanism, is stable at the twopositions, and can move stably between the two positions whilemaintaining its attitude, thereby providing stable operations.Furthermore, the strength of the engaging piece 7 is improved to firmlyhold the part.

Although the above embodiment connects the pair of link pieces 8 toeither side of the engaging piece 7, either of the opposed sidewalls 2 aof the retaining unit 2 may be connected to either side of theengagement piece 7 by a single link piece 8 via the self hinge 9. Thisconfiguration can produce effects similar to those with the-pair of linkpieces 8 because the protrusion 10 is provided for each engaging piece 7and because protrusion 10 can be guided along the guide groove 26 toreliably move the engagement piece 7 to the protruding or withdrawingposition in order to make the piece 7 stable at that position.

A second embodiment of the part retainer according to this invention isdescribed with reference to FIG. 10. According to the second embodiment,either end of a pair of link pieces 28 a, 28 b connected together by theself hinge 9 is connected to either of the opposed sidewalls 2 a of theretaining unit 2 by the self hinge 9, with the engaging piece 7 providedon one of the link pieces 28 a.

In this embodiment, despite a change in the configuration between theprotruding position and the withdrawing position, the engaging piece 7produces effects similar to those of the above embodiment by preventingthe part from falling out in the protruding position while enabling thepart to be removed from the housing space 5 in the withdrawing position.

A third embodiment of the part retainer according to this invention isdescribed with reference to FIG. 11. According to this embodiment,either end of a flexible curved supporting piece 29 is connected toeither of the opposed sidewalls 2 a of the retaining unit 2 by the selfhinge 9, with the engaging piece 7 disposed at the approximate center ofthe curved supporting piece 29.

According to this embodiment, since the curved supporting piece 29changes its configuration between a curve toward the housing space 5 anda curve toward the opposite direction to the housing space 5, theengaging piece 7 can move between the protruding position and thewithdrawing position and is stable at these two positions. Thus, effectssimilar to those of the above embodiments can be obtained by allowingthe engaging piece 7 to prevent the part from falling out at theprotruding position while enabling it to be removed from the housingspace 5 at the withdrawing position.

A fourth embodiment of the part retainer according to this invention isdescribed with reference to FIG. 12. Although the above embodiments havebeen shown with the engagement piece 7 disposed at either end of theretaining unit 2, the fourth embodiment includes the engaging piece 7 ofthe same shape as the second embodiment in each corner at either end. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the ends of link pieces 30 a, 30 b areconnected to either sidewall 2 a of the retaining unit 2 and thesidewall 2 b at either end of the retaining unit 2, respectively, withthe engaging piece 7 disposed on one of the link pieces 30 a.

It will be understood that, other mechanisms such as the one shown inFIG. 11 may be used.

By disposing the engaging piece 7 in the corner of the housing space 5,the dead space can be effectively used and no substantial movement ofthe engaging piece 7 is required. As a result, the engaging piece 7 doesnot interfere with parts having protrusions such as leads in their fourcorners.

Although the above embodiments have been shown with the engaging piece 7disposed at either end or each corner of the housing space 5, theengaging piece 7 may be disposed only at one end or in one or twocorners of the housing space 5 and used to hold and fix the part.

Next, an embodiment of a part supply apparatus according to thisinvention which uses the part retainer is described.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a part supply-apparatus according to thisinvention. FIG. 20 is a rear view, FIG. 21 is a left side view, FIG. 22is a right side view, FIG. 23 is a plan view, and FIG. 24 is a bottomview.

In FIG. 14, 40 is a reel retention section rotatably retaining a reelaround which the part retainer 1 with parts housed is wound, 41 is areel presser section for contacting the outer circumference of a reel 43to regulate the unwanted rotation of the reel 43 as shown in FIG. 17,and 42 is a roller that changes the travelling direction of thetape-like part retainer transferred from the reel 43. These componentsconstitute the feed reel section. Reference numeral 44 designates clamplever for operating a clamp 45 to fix the part supply apparatus to thepart supply section of an electronics mounting machine (not shown). Asthe clamp lever 44 is rotated to the position shown by the broken line,the fixing clamp 44 is accordingly moved to the position also shown bythe broken line to release the part supply apparatus from theelectronics mounting machine. Reference numeral 46 denotes a positioningpin that is fitted in a positioning hole provided in a part supplysection of the electronics mounting machine to regulate the mountingposition of the part supply apparatus when the part supply apparatus isfixed to the electronics mounting apparatus. Reference numeral 47 is afeed lever. When a specified amount of external force is applied to thefeed lever 47 from the direction shown by arrow A, a tape feed means 48connected to the lever is rotated a specified amount in the directionshown by arrow B. Since the feed holes 3 in the tape-like part retainer1 engage the gear of the tape feed means 48, the rotation of the tapefeed means 48 causes the part retainer 1 to be moved a specified amount.At this point, a tape guide 50 that can rotate around a supporting point49 applies a downward pressure to fit the gear of the tape feed means 48in the feed holes 3 of the part retainer 1. The position of thesupporting point 49 is not limited to those shown in FIGS. 14 and 17,and other positions may be used as long as the tape guide 50 isrotatably supported.

The rotational force of the tape feed means 48 is transmitted to a lever52 via a link 51. As the lever 52 rotates around a supporting point 53,the force of a spring 54 activates a lever 55 to cause a link 56abutting the lever 55 to rotate a winding means 57 a specified amount inthe direction shown by arrow C.

Reference numeral 58 indicates a tape travelling section that acts as asurface on which the tape-like part retainer 1 travels, and 59 is a basesection the bottom surface of which is mounted on the electronicsmounting machine. As shown in FIG. 15, the tape travelling section 58and the base section 59 are each mounted on the part supply apparatusbody 60 from its side. These components 58, 59, and 60, however, neednot be separate members, but may be formed as an integral member.According to this embodiment, the above constitution serves to form agroove-like tape travelling space that enables the tape to be replacedfrom the side of the apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of an integral part near a part removal position62. An engaging piece closing member 64 with a specified pair of guideprotrusions 63 arranged in parallel with each other as shown in FIG. 19is disposed within a specified range of the tape travelling section 58including the part removal position. The engaging piece closing member64 is provided in such a manner that the tape travelling surface 65 isas high as a tape travelling surface 66 of the tape travelling section58. The tape guide 50 also has slits 67 for avoiding contact with thegear of the tape feed means 48 as shown in the figure.

The operation during loading of the part retainer is described withreference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

The tape-like part retainer 1, drawn out from the feed reel 43, has itsdirection changed by the roller 42 so as to be approximately parallelwith the tape travelling section 58, and pressed by the tape guide 50against the tape travelling surface 65 near the part removal position62. The gear of the tape feed means 48 is engaged with the feed holes 3formed in the part retainer 1. The electronics mounting machine pressesthe feed lever 47 a specified amount in direction A to rotate theinterlocked tape feed means 48 a specified amount in direction B,thereby feeding the part retainer 1 a specified amount in direction D.At this point, at the part removal position 62, the protrusions 10 onthe rear surface of the part retainer 1 move along the inclined sides ofthe guide protrusions 63 and outward relative to the tape feed directionto open the engaging piece 7 in order to enable the retained part 27 tobe removed from upward. After the part 27 has been removed at the partremoval position 62, the part retainer 1 passes through the groove-liketape travelling space 61 formed below the tape traveling section 58, andis rewound around the reel 69 by the winding means 57 via roller 68. Thewinding operation of the winding means 57 is in synchronism with thetape feed operation of the tape feed means 48. In addition, since thewinding means 57 is prevented from rotating in the opposite direction bya one-way clutch, the tape-like retainer 1 does not become loose duringwinding, and can be wound stably. As in the feed reel 43, the windingside has a reel presser section (not shown).

To replace the part retainer 1, the tape guide 50 is rotated upwardaround the supporting point 49 to release the engagement between thepart retainer 1 and the gear of the tape feed means 48. The partretainer 1 is further moved in the direction shown by arrow D so as tobecome loose. The tape-like part retainer 1 can then be removed from theside of the apparatus (toward the reader in FIG. 17) with its connectionbetween the feed reel 43 and the winding reel 69 maintained. Replacementis thus easy.

Although this embodiment has been shown in conjunction with theformation of the groove-like tape travelling space 61 for enabling thepart retainer 1 to be replaced from the side of the apparatus, thisinvention is not limited to the groove-like space 61 and only requires aspace through which the part retainer 1 can travel to be provided on thetape travelling surface, the tape guide 50 to be rotated upward aroundthe supporting point 49, and a gap to be provided between the tape guide50 and the tape travelling surface such that the part retainer 1 can beremoved therefrom.

In addition, this invention maintains a specified distance between thetip curved surface 70 of the tape guide 50 and the tape feed means 48,removal operation is easy when the part retainer is removed from thewinding means 57 during replacement of the part retainer.

This part supply apparatus can be applied to a part retainer 1 with adifferent housing pitch by replacing the engaging piece closing member64.

What is claimed is:
 1. A part retainer for holding a part, comprising: aretaining unit including opposed sidewalls which define a housing space,the housing space for holding a part therein; an engaging piece movablebetween a stable, stopped withdrawing position and a stable, stoppedprotruding position; said engaging piece including a generallyhorizontally extending section connected to a generally verticallyextending section; a link piece extending between one of the sidewallsand said engaging piece; a self hinge for connecting said link piecewith said one of the sidewalls; said retaining unit including anengagement hole and an engagement protrusion for cooperating with anengagement protrusion and an engagement hole, respectively, of anotherretaining unit for connecting two adjacent retaining units together, theadjacent retaining units having holes and protrusions in correspondingpositions with respect to a transfer direction of the retaining units,the engagement holes each having an entry side and an exit side, theengagement protrusions each having a locking means, a recess adjacentthe locking means, the recess for receiving the locking means when anengagement protrusion enters the entry side of the engagement hole andfor releasing the locking means when the engagement protrusion haspassed through the engagement hole to the exit side; and wherein saidengaging piece in the protruding position prevents a part from fallingout of the housing space.